Question- Keith Hilton

Palmer · From: New Bern,NC,USA

Keith, can a 1/4 inch jack be adapted to one of your pedals without harm to the electronics, rather than the adapter being wired straight in? Thanks, Jack Palmer.

John Daugherty · From: Rolla, Missouri, USA

I can answer that for you. .... NO .....
The power supply has 3 active wires. Neutral, +12vdc and -12vdc and a shield wire which cannot be allowed to touch any other wire.
It can be done with a 3-pin connector. Do not try to use a 1/4" stereo plug. There is a danger of shorting the terminals when you insert the plug.

Palmer · From: New Bern,NC,USA

John, thanks for the info. Jack.

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Being and Electronics Tech and having talked at length with Keith about the pedal design, your best option is to leave it alone.

If you separate the power supply from the pedal, there is the "murphy's law" effect of losing or forgetting the power supply.

However there is a greater risk of damaging the connector, either on the power supply cable or the jack in the pedal.

The power supplies come with a connector but Keith opted not to use it, primarily for the reasons stated. The slight inconvenience of having the power supply permanently attached outweighs all other considerations.

Don Sulesky · From: Citrus County, FL, Orig. from MA & NH

I know that John Hughey had his made so that the power supply connects to his pedal.
This I know from talking to John at a PSGA show a year ago.
But I would take Jack's advice and leave it as is.
Murphy's Law, I know him personally from experience.
Don

[This message was edited by Don Sulesky on 13 February 2005 at 06:55 AM.]

Dennis Detweiler · From: Solon, Iowa, US

I have an early model Hilton pedal with a plug to disconnect the pedal from the adapter. All of the electronic componenets and circuit board are packed into the pedal. I'm not positive, but I believe the newer pedals have most or all of the electronics inside the larger size adapter? If Keith would install a disconnectable plug on the pedal, there is the chance that someone would try to plug a generic adapter into the pedal which could ruin the on/off "doodad" inside the pedal?
My guess?
Dennis

Vann Ray Cranford · From: Kinston, N.C. 28501-1571

Hey Jack,
I talked to Keith when I got my first pedal about why the power supply did not disconnect. Keith told me that he made his first pedals where the power supply would disconnect. He said that he stopped doing that,because some players were complaining about the power cord working itself loose while playing. Therefore, he eliminated that problem by permanently attaching the power cord.
Jack, I enjoyed my visit with you last week. My son likes his MSA guitar. Reese Anderson E-mailed me and said that the guitar was made in 1974, and originally shipped to a MCI dealer in Chicago. Take care! Vann

Keith Hilton · From: 248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721

Thanks to everyone using my pedal, I consider you all good friends. Everything that has been said in this post-is"TRUE". I never realized that something that is plugged in often soon experiences problems. No matter how fool proof it is, if it plugs in, there will be problems. Of course there are the extremely maticulous people like Dennis Detweiler. By the way,if you ever hear Dennis play, you will understand what I mean by extremely maticulous. Not everyone is a Dennis Detweiler. Some people drink strong drink and try and plug in quickly in the dark. Some people forget their plug in adapter and leave it at home. Some people plug in the wrong adapter. I could go on and on and on and on--I've learned to hate things that plug in. When I went to the attached power cord, it proved to be a real blessing. The only problem I've had after producing thousands of pedals is one guy's dog chewed the power cord apart right at the adapter. The power supply I use is really a computer power supply that comes with a DIN 8 pin connector. I cut the DIN connector off, because DIN connectors will get ruined if plugged in often. The power supply has these wires: Plus 12 volts, Minus 12 volts, Plus 5 volts, Ground, a stranded wire, and a foil shielding. I tape off the +5 volts, the red wire, because I don't use it. I also tape off the stranded wire after it is cut back. I also tape off the foil shielding after cutting it back. All I use is the +12 volts which is Green, -12 volts which is white, and the black wire which is ground. Both the +12 volts and the -12 volts have a fuse as they enter the circuit board. So many people assume that anything powered has only two wires, a plus and ground. Many things operate from dual polarity, meaning you can have plus voltage and minus voltage and a ground. Most IC chips operate from dual polarity voltage. In the early days I used to build all the voltage splitting, regulating and filtering inside the pedal. This was much, much, much more costly in materials and labor. I got smart and got these things ready made in a regulated transformer made by Motorola. The old pedals had the exact same electronics to make the sound, the only difference was the power supply. Here is something you may be interested in; I got my patent for the pedal approved a few months back. The whole process took about 5 years. The patent publishes on Feb.22, 2005. Again, thanks to everyone who uses my volume pedal. I will always be here to help you with any problem. Here is my home phone number 417-581-4158. Keith Hilton

Palmer · From: New Bern,NC,USA

Thanks everybody for the input. I had already decided to leave it original not knowing anything about electronics anyhow. Glad your son likes the MSA Van. Jack.

Fred Shannon · From: Rocking "S" Ranch, Comancheria, Texas, R.I.P.

My take--If it ain't broke don't fix it. Keith made a lot of pertinent decisions in the design and manufacture of my pedal and I ain't smart enough to make any changes. I love it, it's been the best thing that's happened to me in the signal chain.

fred

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"From Truth, Justice is Born"--Quanah Parker-1904

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Vann, you'll have to refresh my memory. I meet so many people. Were you the one that asked me about the MatchBro settings?

Vann Ray Cranford · From: Kinston, N.C. 28501-1571

Hey to Jack Stoner,
No Jack, I am not the one that asked you about the settings.
Anyway, Keith Hilton is such a nice person and makes such a fine pedal, that I recently bought my second pedal from Keith to use as a backup to go in my custom made Walker Professional Players Chair. Between Keith Hilton, Ray Walker, Jack Palmer, Peterson tuners, and Peavey, I stay broke!!!

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